Pneumatic stacker.



No. 675,337. Patented May 28, I90l. 0. A. MICKELSON. PNEUMATIC STACKER.

(Application filed Apr. 2, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet L No. 675,337. Patented May 28, I90I. o. A. MIGKELSON. PNEUMATIC SIACKER.

(Application filed Apr. 2, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

THE Norms PCTKRS co. PNOTD-LITNQ. wAsumaYnn. n. c.

UNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLE A. MICKELSON, OF WINGER, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE FOSSTON WIND STAOKER COMPANY, OF

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA.

PNEUMATIC STACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 675,337, dated May 28, 1901. Application filed April 2, 1900. Serial No. 11, N mod l- To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OLE A. MICKELSON, residing at Winger, in the county of Polk and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Stackers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in pneumatic stackers of that class wherein the :0 material is received through an eye in the fan-casing and is discharged through a pcripheral discharge-opening.

In the usual form of wind-stacker the air is taken by the fan from the interior of the separator through the straw and chaff receptacle, and the straw and chaff come directly into contact with the blades of the fan and are thrown into the discharge-spout chiefly by the direct mechanical action of no the fan-blades in their revolution, being discharged from the spout in bunches correspondingto the throws of the famblades. With such stackers great difficulty has been experienced by reason of the straw becoming 2 5 engaged with the blades and hub of the fan and clogging them in their revolution. By reason of this direct mechanical action an unnecessary amount of power is required to drive the fan, and owing to the fact that the air is taken from the interior of the machine through the same opening in the fan-chamber as the straw an insufi'icient amount of air reaches the fan to create the desired blast to carry the straw up the spout.

The objects of myinvention are to prevent the material entering the fan-chamber from becoming engaged with the blades or hub of the fan and to effect its discharge solely by the blast of air from the fan instead of in 40 whole or in part by the mechanical action of the blades, as well as to prevent the outflow of air through the material-receiving opening, and otherwise to increase the efliciency of such stackers. I attain these objects by 5 providingafan-chamber of substantially the shape shown in the drawings, provided with a wide space at the bottom at the side of the fan-blades, into which the straw and chaff shall fall, by taking the air only from the outside through a small central eye in the outer side of the fan-casing opposite to the material-receiving opening, and by controlling the air and retaining it within the casing by means of a disk arranged against the inner side of the fan shaft and blades and by means of an inolosing rim on the inner side of the casing about the straw-receiving opening. Furthermore, the discharge-throat is so arranged as to lead off at an angle with the plane of rotation of the fan diagonally across the discharge end of the space in the bottom of the fan-casing, so that the current of air is carried directly across the mouth and blows the straw away from the fan and into the discharge-throat the moment it falls into the space above mentioned.

My invention consists more particularly in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved blower in position upon the rear end of a grain-separator-with the spout and drive pulley partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blower and delivery-hopper with one of the upper side braces removed to show the bearings of the drive-shaft of the fan; and Fig. 3 is a crosssection of the hopper and blower, taken on line a; w of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, A represents the frame of the blower, which may be secured in any convenient way to the rear end of a separator.

In the drawings the separator 2 is shown partly broken away. Supported within the frame at one side is a cylindrical fan-casing B, having an upright outer end wall 3 and an inwardly and downwardly inclined inner end wall 4. The inner end wall 4 is formed with a central opening 5 for the reception of straw and chaff from the straw receptacle, here shown as a chute or hopper 6, which is supported upon the opposite side of the frame and slopes downwardly to the bottom of the opening 5 in the fan-casing. This opening is preferably circular in shape and is so large that the inner wall 4 is, in effect, little more than a rim about the opening and will be so described. Leading tangentially from the periphery 9 of the fan-casing is an upwardly and inwardly inclined throat 7, to which is hinged the inner section 8 of the discharge-spout. The inner end of the fan-casing, on the side adjacent to the throat 7, is cutaway above the throat, so that the upper part of the periphery 0 is narrower at that point than the throat, leaving an uncovered space 10 in the bottom of the fan-casing, adjacent to the hopper. The inner. end of the casing and the wall or rim 4 thus take a substantially spiral course from the top of the discharge-throat around the casing to the inner side of the threat. The outer wall 3 of the fan-chamber is also formed with a central eye 11, through which the fan takes air from the outside.

Journaled in the bearing 12 upon the upper end of the bracket 13, which is supported upon the lower side brace 14 of the frame, is a drive-shaft 15, extending into the fan-cham her through the central eye 11 and carrying upon its outer end a drive-pulley 16. Bigidly mounted upon this drive-shaft within the fan-chamber are hubs 17, carrying spokes 18, to which are secured the fan-blades 19. The diameter of the fan-that is to say, the distance from the outer end of any fan-blade to the outer end of the opposite fan-bladeis preferably greater than the diameter of the opening 5, so that the fan-blades overlap the rim 4. Against the inner side edges of the fan-blades and the inner end of the driveshaft, adjacent to the opening 5, is secured a disk 20, set at substantially right angles to the fan-blades and of less diameter than the opening 5 and also, preferably, 0E less diameter than the distance between the outer ends of any two oppositely-arranged fan-blades. The main function of the disk is to control and direct the current of air entering through the eye 11 and to retain it within the fan.

In operation the straw, chaif, or other material to be stacked passes down along the bottom of the receptacle or hopper 6 until it reaches the edge of the wall or rim 4, where it is caught and drawn by suction into the space 10 in the bottom of the fan-chamher at the sides of the fan-blades, whence it is at once blown out with great force by the air-blast into the discharge-throat. Byhaving the small central opening in the outer end of the fan-casing the air is supplied directly from the outside to the hub of the fan, where it is retained by the disk until it is thrown out by the revolution of the fan to the ends of the blades and against the inside of the periphery of the casing, being retained and confined within the casing by the outer side wall 3 and the inclosing rim 4:. Owing to the shape of the fan-chamber there is an everwidening space between the sides of fanblades and the rim at, so that a great volume of air is driven along the inside of the rim and through the space 10 in the bottom of the casing, catching up the straw or other material and blowing itout of the discharge-throat so quickly that it hardly touches the disk or the fan-blades at all. Furthermore, by having the discharge-throat lead off from the space 10 diagonally away from the fan-blades the current of air is directed away from the fan-blades. The disk 20 and the rim 4, serving, as they do, to retain the entering air within the fan, obviously prevent any outflow of air into the hopper or separator and also prevent the fan from taking air from the hopper or separator, so that there can be no sucking of the grain through the sieves.

\Vhile in order to insure the greatest ciliciency I prefer to have the eyes 5 and 11 circular in shape and positioned in the center of the respective ends of the fan-casing, yet their shape and position maybe varied without departing from the principle of my invent-ion.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a pneumatic stacker, in combination, a fan-casing and a fan rotatably mounted therein, said casing having in one end an opening for the inlet of air and in the other end an opening for the reception of material and being formed with a space at the bottom adjacent to the material-receiving opening and a discharge-throat leading therefrom, means for delivering material to said space and means for retaining the entering air within the casing and directing it into said space and through it into the discharge-throat.

2. In a pneumatic stacker, in combination, a vertically-rotatable fan and a fan-casing inclosing the same; said casing having in one end a central eye for the reception of material and a lateral enlargement below said eye and at the side of the fan-blades, a dischargethroat leading from said enlargement, an axial air-inlet in the opposite end of thecasing and means for directing the entering air to said enlargement and into the dischargethreat.

3. In a pneumatic stacker, in combination, a fan-casing and a fan rotatably mounted therein, said casing having a central eye in one end for the reception of material and be ing widened at the bottom to form a space between said eye and the adjacent sides of the fan-blades, a discharge-throat leading oil from said space, an axial eye in the opposite end of the fan-casing for the inlet of air to the fan and a disk arranged against the edges of the fan-blades on the side of the materialreceiving eye whereby the entering air is controlled and retained within the fan.

In a pneumatic stacker, in combination, a fan-casing and a rotary fan mounted therein, said casing having both a central eye in its outer end through which the air is drawn directly to the center of the fan, and a material-receiving opening in its opposite or inner end, the inner end wall of the casing forming a rim surrounding said opening, a space at the bottom of the casing between said rim and the fan-blades, a discharge-throat leading from said space, and a disk of less diameter than the fan arranged against the inner edges of the fan-blades adjacent to the material-receiving opening to retain the entering air within the fan.

5. In apneumatic stacker, in combination, a fan-casing and arotary fan mounted therein, said casing having in one end an opening for the inlet of air and in the other end an opening for the reception of material, and being formed with a lateral enlargement between the material-receiving opening and the sides of the fan-blades, a discharge-throat leading upwardly and inwardly from said enlargement and away from the fan-blades, and means substantially as described for retaining the entering air within the fan-casing and directing it to said enlargement and into the discharge-throat.

6. In a pneumatic stacker, in combination, a cylindrical fan-casing and a fan rotatably mounted therein, said casing having a central opening 11 in its outer end wall and a material-receiving opening 5 in its inner end wall, and being formed with a space 10 at the bottom between the inner end wall and the adjacent sides of the fan-blades, adischargethroat 7 leading from said space, and a disk 20 arranged against the inner edges of the fan-blades, said fan being of greater diameter than the opening 5, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. In a pneumatic stacker, in combination, a fan-casing and a fan rotatably mounted therein, said casing having in one end an airinlet opening and in the opposite end a feedopening and being formed at the bottom with a lateral enlargement adjacent to said feedopening, a discharge-throat leading from said enlargement and means substantially as described for retaining the entering air within the casing and directing it to the enlargement.

In testimony whereof I aftix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLE A. MICKELSON.

Witnesses:

ALBERT KAISER, ARTHUR P. LOTHROP. 

